Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 17,709 Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 535,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,709 shares during the quarter. ONEOK accounts for about 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.09% of ONEOK worth $37,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of OKE. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of ONEOK in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ONEOK by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ONEOK in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in shares of ONEOK by 605.1% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in ONEOK by 283.5% during the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OKE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on ONEOK from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn raised ONEOK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of ONEOK from $71.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of ONEOK from $73.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ONEOK from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ONEOK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.58.

ONEOK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OKE traded up $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.42. 1,078,147 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,966,795. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.64. ONEOK, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.91 and a 52 week high of $81.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.10.

ONEOK (NYSE:OKE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. ONEOK had a net margin of 12.54% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business had revenue of $4.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ONEOK, Inc. will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

ONEOK Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.05%. ONEOK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.09%.

ONEOK declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 17th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the utilities provider to repurchase up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ONEOK news, Director Wayne Thomas Smith acquired 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.25 per share, for a total transaction of $203,175.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $203,175. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

ONEOK Profile

ONEOK, Inc engages in gathering, processing, fractionation, storage, transportation, and marketing of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. It operates through four segments: Natural Gas Gathering and Processing, Natural Gas Liquids, Natural Gas Pipelines, and Refined Products and Crude.